Filling up with petrol three years ago at a station in Rivonia, Johannesburg, I met a promising young man in dire need.
Philemon Muzavazi, a petrol attendant, told me he was being retrenched that day, had 15 years’ work experience in the post office and was a pastor. Without a paying job he was going to have a problem supporting his family.
I sensed he could be an attribute to the company I worked for, Media Works. He was softly spoken and sincere, and I invited him to the company for an assessment. I was advised that Muzavazi needed coaching to get him up to standard.
So I helped him through his training as a facilitator for adult basic education training (Abet), part of which was to place him at several Media Works training sites. During those early weeks he floundered — for instance, having no training experience, he found even the terminology he encountered alien.
But now he is one the best facilitators we have. Muzavazi singles out his second assignment as a facilitator as his most challenging. He was told that the learners were extremely difficult, having twice abandoned their lessons.
So he decided to establish a relationship with the learners before commencing the programme. For two weeks he discussed social issues instead of schoolwork and then got down to business.
The learners completed the course and all passed their exams. He went on from one success to another. At subsequent training assignments, which included the SABC, Media Direction SA and Sherino Printers, he achieved pass results of 80%, 83% and 90% respectively.
Muzavazi says his success has not been coincidental. Education is like soccer, he says: without a good strategy and commitment you won’t achieve anything.
He finds that adult leaners are sometimes slow and have problems concentrating because of the distractions occasioned by their many responsibilities. Often, therefore, he concentrates on social issues, and only then on training, to achieve success.
We’ve found that clients sing Muzavazi’s praises, saying he’s always well prepared and the adults he teaches are comfortable with him — he is someone to whom they can relate. He’s been one our best success stories — someone who has a passion to help others learn and make a difference.
Lettie van Niekerk is a project manager at Media Works, an accredited training provider that specialises in developing and providing training aligned to the National Qualifications Framework for learnerships and for adult basic education training. See www.mediaworks.co.za